Buffalo man sentenced to five years in prison over East Side burglary, assault

A Buffalo man who broke into an East Side home with a crowbar, then used it to beat the homeowner before fleeing in a getaway car, was sentenced Monday to five years in prison.

Edmund Bowie, 35, of Curry Walk, was given the minimum sentence by State Supreme Court Justice Deborah Haendiges. He could have been sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Bowie pleaded guilty in January to two counts of first-degree burglary and single counts of second-degree assault and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the break-in early Sept. 18 on Proctor Avenue, off Bailey Avenue.

After attacking the homeowner, Bowie fled in his car before crashing at Hempstead Avenue and Suffolk, police said. He was caught after a foot chase on Langfield Drive.

In 2012, Bowie was acquitted by an Erie County Court jury in a violent gunpoint home invasion on the East Side involving three intruders who terrorized a businessman and his family until they revealed where the cash was hidden, prosecutors said. The victims identified Bowie as the gunman, but a defense witness raised questions about the identification. Two other defendants were convicted. Bowie had a previous conviction for attempted assault.